Conor Keogh on His Creative Process, Sound and Inspirations
Conor, the 17-year-old pop dreamer from Madison, WI, just released his new single “Inside My Head,” a hopeful breakup song aimed to lift one’s spirits. Soon after his latest release, Conor sat down with EMMIE to chat about his music, influences and future.
▼
EMMIE: How would you describe your sound and creative process?
Conor: My sound kind of goes for ambient pop. I take influences from pop but then make it more reverb and mystic. Also, kind of dreamy and spacious and atmospheric. My creative process is me playing casually with acoustic songs and then making them into more of a producing thing, messing around and stuff. I’m experimenting each time I do something to find any way to expand on it or figure out what I want to do with it to make it synth and expand.
EMMIE: Your newly released single “Inside My Head” diverges from most of your mystic and mysterious tracks like “Loverboy” and “Dive Into My Bones,” what inspired this shift? And how did this song come to fruition?
Conor: The huge shift was kind of caused by my friend Clem, who goes by the name Heartgaze, and like the original song is super depressing and Lo-Fi like all the other stuff I made. Then we went up to my step dad's farm, and in the barn, I'm playing around with a drum loop and everything, so we decided to make it more upbeat and pop-like. Very woo-hoo, let's go. In the end, I took the original demo for "Inside My Head," keeping most of the lyrics and melodies, and then decided to change a couple of the lyrics and completely change the end. The original ending was wildly different. So the biggest influence is definitely Clem just messing around.
EMMIE I noticed the lyrics are serious, about trust and vulnerability, yet the beat and production are uplifting and cheerful. Was this juxtaposition between the words and sound a conscious choice?
Conor: Ya, the juxtaposition between the words and sound was on purpose. I remember I didn't like the song originally; I was going to throw it away. It's about that point in the relationship where you're not necessarily broken up, but you know you're going to break up soon and see it going downhill. You're sort of questioning why it happened with the juxtaposition of a view from a hopeless romantic like “Oh, I'm playing and so depressed in my bedroom lights,” it's very teen boy. But then I reflected on it a year later, and my view on the song changed as well as my mood and feelings about the relationship. I was no longer upset or in a bad mental state, so I changed it. I realized I should make it a happy song, cause what's the point of making something I've made thousands of times.
EMMIE: Going back to your first release, “Loverboy,” why did you take a spacious, Beach House direction?
Conor: Honestly, I was into the whole bedroom pop scene, like DIY. When the Banes World album came out, I googled 'how do I make music that sounds like Banes World,' so after that was the first time I ever finished a song, which I did in like a week. But I didn't do any of the smart production, yet it turned out cool, so I guess the vocals are what drove the song.
EMMIE: How does the Internet and social media influence your music and the music industry in general? And if you could change one thing about it, what would it be?
Conor: The obvious one is physically owning your music and the stuff you make. I guess the one thing I wouldn’t change is labels giving artists creative direction and giving them an outlet to experiment. Social media definitely made it easier for me to showcase my music and who I am. The negative side is probably the pressure that comes with social media, which I guess is a corny thing to say. Ha. You want to present yourself and say this is who I am, but also this image reflects my music and I need to think about that as well.
EMMIE: Ya, sort of one’s “curated authentic self.”
EMMIE: What’s something more “off the wall” that inspires you? (i.e. not love or relationships)
Conor: I love the aesthetic of indoor gardens or like this one art museum in Dublin that’s huge. That really inspires me a ton. Also, films. Tons of influence from the feelings of films or another song I hear, like Gaspar Noé’s movie “Enter the Void” and the romance flick “Call Me By Your Name.”
EMMIE: Who are your musical inspirations? And how do you think you’re similar and different to them?
Conor: My top one was my first concert, which is The 1975. Next, I'd probably say Phoebe Bridgers recently. She's my top right now. That's what I want to make stuff like. This guy called No Rome is like the best friends with the 1975, and one of his songs is my favorite song of all time. He's definitely up there as well; his music on SoundCloud is my biggest inspiration. For The 1975, it's kind of how they write love songs; that's how I want to write love songs. Their production style lyrically inspires me. And with No Rome, the production elements, like where and how he produces, I want to implement that stuff into my music.
EMMIE: How does it feel to be featured on Fresh Finds?
Conor: I noticed that when I was at McDonald's, going through a drive-thru, and got a call from my manager, and he was like “Oh, by the way, you're on Fresh Finds Pop.” I was like “What?” I was literally picking up my water and going to drop it. “What is going on?” It was just a very eventful day. It was weird because I've been making music for almost three years, and now I'm on a Spotify playlist. So now, it's all about getting on every Spotify playlist.
EMMIE: Decent goal.
EMMIE: This question is purely for my own interest. Why is your EP entitled Plastic?
Conor: You know that's a good question; that's funny. I made this demo called “Plastic” when I had this thing with a girl, and I remember thinking about how she was kind of fake and superficial and doll-like. Yeah, so I was going to title it Plastic Doll, but then 1975's next release was that, so I just did Plastic. Plastic was directed at someone, and something I made for her after we broke up. It's not even a diss album; it's more like I made this, and you should hear it. Ha, that's a good question actually because I haven't thought about it in a while.
EMMIE: What direction is your music heading in? Is there something you want to explore that you haven’t done yet?
Conor: I'm still exploring my sound as a whole. With the album, it's more like alternative pop music, and there are way more drums. I'm using way more drama and synths and reverb vocals. I think a combination of garage, alternative, and club music. Those are the three main ones.
EMMIE: And still within the same genre?
Conor: Yeah, I'm trying to keep it all in the same genre; I'm not trying to be everywhere. There's a distinct sound. Personally, my taste, in general, is like if I listen to a 12 song album and each song is different where one is country one is hard rock, it's hard to follow. I like it when an album just sets the mood with one genre, and I'll stick with it and keep capitalizing on it.
EMMIE: Anything else you want to add or share?
Conor: My next single, “Typography,” comes out November 25th, and I’m really hyped for it, and my album comes out early next year. That’s all.